THERE HAS been a quality not unlike the Paisley-McGuinness “chuckle brothers” about the public joint appearances of David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Indeed, the warmth of their mutual relationship and the enthusiasm with which both prime minister and deputy PM respectively have seemed to embrace not just their austerity programme but also the very idea of coalition, have been striking.
It has also made Lib Dems and their supporters distinctly queasy – the Tories are roundly hated by them and the coalition barely tolerated as a necessary evil, whatever their leader might say.
Part of the uneasy deal that has kept them onside has been the presence in cabinet as business secretary of the popular and spiky Vince Cable, a leftwinger in Lib Dem terms and one of the few politicians to foresee the banking crash and offer solutions to the global economic crisis. But a combination of the disarming, iconoclastic candour which made his name and a striking innocence about the proprieties of office has seen Mr Cable deal a telling blow to both his own career and standing and to the reputation of the government.
By claiming to two undercover Daily Telegraphjournalists that he had "declared war" on Rupert Murdoch and the tycoon's bid to take over satellite broadcaster BSkyB, Mr Cable seriously compromised his quasi-judicial role in ruling on the merger. That he has survived in cabinet at all, albeit stripped of all media responsibilities, is a tribute to his popularity and importance to Mr Clegg. As he had boasted to the reporters, perhaps somewhat overstating the case, he is seen as the one Lib Dem minister who could bring down the coalition if he took the "nuclear option" and walked out on a point of principle. But by any normal standards, Cable's howler was a sacking offence.
Indeed, some disgruntled rightwing Tories have been wondering why their own are not as generously treated – recently an unpaid adviser to the PM, Lord Young, who made disparaging comments about the economy, was fired. Is this all part, the more suspicious are asking according to the Daily Telegraph'sSimon Heffer, of a long-term strategy for building a permanent coalition?
The Lib Dems’ poll ratings have in recent months slumped after their backing for massive cutbacks, not least the higher tuition fees for students that break a specific pre-election pledge. Mr Clegg, the golden boy of the election, has also seen his personal ratings crash. And Mr Cable’s indiscretions with the reporters also suggest that all is not well at the cabinet table. He voiced concern at the “Maoist” scale and pace of public service reform and at disagreements with Mr Cameron about a cap on economic migrants from outside the EU. Three other Lib Dem ministers, also secretly taped, revealed deep concerns about cuts in welfare benefits, particularly the cuts in child benefits to middle class families which have also been exercising Tory backbenchers.
As Mr Cable himself has pointed out, governing requires “difficult choices”. Coalition was never going to be easy, even with a comfortable majority. The cracks are beginning to show.